Acehnese say SBY has made no difference

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Banda Aceh

Acehnese responded coldly to the government's decision on Thursday to extend the state of civil emergency in the province, complaining that they were not involved in the process that led to the decision.

They demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pursue a dialog with the Acehnese to find a peaceful settlement to the separatist problem that has plagued the natural resource-rich province for almost four decades.

In an official statement shortly after Susilo issued the presidential regulation extending the state of civil emergency for six months, the Aceh Legislative Council questioned the President's claim that the extension decision was made after hearing from Aceh councillors.

"As far as I know, the Aceh council never recommended that the President extend the state of civil emergency. Rather, we urged the government to pursue a dialog to deal with the problems in Aceh," said the deputy speaker of the Aceh provincial legislature, Waisul Qarany Aly.

He said no Aceh councillors were invited to attend the so- called evaluation meeting the government held prior to extending the emergency status.

Another Aceh councillor, Nasir Djamil, said the decision was a setback in the current administration's efforts to resolve the problems in Aceh.

"If the interests of the Acehnese people was one of the reasons behind the decision, what mistakes did we commit that we have to live under a state of emergency?" he asked.

Nasir suggested a dialog between the government and community groups in the province be held to arrive at a more legitimate decision regarding the Aceh conflict.

A lawyer from the Aceh Legal Aid Institute, Rufriadi, said that despite his claims to be a reformer, Susilo failed to offer a new paradigm for Aceh.

"He (Susilo) seems to talk nonsense. At one time he said he would bring a special approach to dealing with separatism in Aceh and Papua. People thought this special approach would be a peaceful dialog," he said.

Rufriadi said Susilo was no different from his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, who imposed martial law in Aceh for a year and state of civil emergency for six months.

After receiving approval from the House of Representative, the President announced on Thursday the extension of the state of civil emergency in Aceh.

In response to the decision, rebel spokesman Anwar Husain said guerrillas were prepared for any situation. He also ruled out any possibility for dialog unless Jakarta dropped the emergency status.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been fighting for independence in Aceh since 1976.

In Jakarta, activists from the Aceh Working Group demanded the President find more "creative solutions" for Aceh.

"What kind of dialog will the government offer to Acehnese living under this kind of pressure?" group representative Smita Notosusanto, said.

Acehnese sociologist Otto Syamsuddin Ishak said the decision closed the way for efforts to settle the problems in the troubled province.

"The economy in Aceh collapsed following the government's decision to impose martial law last year. There will never be any recovery with Susilo bowing to the military's demand for an extension of the emergency status," he said.

The state of civil emergency will also deny the public access to investigations into high-profile corruption cases allegedly involving local political leaders, as well as hampering efforts to organize the direct election of local government heads.